I really liked the system you guys set up here. I really wanted it to work. It was a great idea and it's a great way to solve problems. But so far:

Six times I've had a question I've been unable to answer myself.

Six times I've looked at these sites, six times considered which website I knew about matched the category of my question closest.

Six times posted the question.

Six times had it closed for being off topic.

Six times been linked to yet another identical website that I've never heard of.

Six times had to register yet again.

Six times had to re-post my question.

Six times had to start off with zero reputation.

Six times been unable to even upvote the intelligent responses that people have given me.

I'm about this close to giving up on everything and going back to the old forum-style way of doing things. It's this close to not being worth my time anymore.

I know it's a rant. I'm sorry if you don't want to hear a rant, I'm sorry if a rant is off topic for meta and this thread is going to have to be closed, and you're going to have to link me to Rant Overflow, where I'm going to have to register another account.

But if I was running these sites, this is exactly the kind of valuable user feedback I'd be looking for, feedback from an intelligent, potentially highly contributing member of the community who is about this close to simply going elsewhere in the future.

EDIT: The cardinal sin of the internet. Posting while upset. Sorry for not just sleeping on it. Allow me to clear up some of everyone's confusion:

I am not, in fact, intimately familiar with everything about the overflow mechanic, template, and how it operates. I hadn't ever heard of the area51 website, and what it does. I didn't have a clue. I didn't know that your "network" extends to only those four websites. I figured with the deluge of absolutely identical-looking websites with identical-looking mechanics, that they were all run by the same group.

So, yeah, no, half of my problems are not related to your "network". Intrepid sleuths in the comments have located all the "in network" threads, and after sufficiently embarrassing myself here with my little tirade, I'm not about to link out to the relevant "out of network" posts that I was talking about. Forgive me for the damage control.

So, yeah, consign this thread to oblivion or leave it, do what you will. But just try to see where a guy like me was coming from, because I'd like to think I'm an average user. In a network filled with threads like this one and this one, a guy posts a very exhaustive, well-formed, intelligent question, with tons of supporting details, only to come back the very next day and find "CLOSED: OFF-TOPIC, TRY THIS OTHER SITE."

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

Across your accounts on all four sites, I see only one closed question, which was correctly migrated to SuperUser, where you have answers, including an accepted one. Help us out: What are we missing?
–
John RudyJun 8 '10 at 17:50

2

If you think this is bad, you should try the area 51 with the little green men...
–
timJun 8 '10 at 17:50

8

"Six times had to register yet again. Six times had to re-post my question. Six times had to start off with zero reputation." What six times are you talking about, if there are only 3 Q&A sites (without the meta fluff)? Did you have problems with login?
–
GnoupiJun 8 '10 at 18:08

2

If the question was migrated, you do not need to repost -- it's already there.
–
EtherJun 8 '10 at 18:14

Yeah, but the GMail/LDAP was reopened by splattne within hours of closure and the Meta post about it. I missed the SU closure, but yeah, if something's OT on a network site, a user would have to start over on an off-network SE site. I get that this may be frustrating, but that doesn't mean off-topic questions should be OK. At least, not to me.
–
John RudyJun 8 '10 at 19:52

1

maarx although I think your post was a little rant-y, I understand the concern of "where do I ask this question?". But you also need to understand the massive risk of "just ask anything here!" -- that leads directly to ... yahooanswerfail.com
–
Jeff Atwood♦Jun 9 '10 at 2:27

3 Answers
3

That said, some questions just don't fit on any existing sites. Much as I want to solicit design reviews for the suit I intend to wear while developing my business plan to sell laser-driven waffle irons, there's no SE site for that. That's why there's work underway to create more sites...

+1 for improving SO's FAQ tonight and digging up the examples; I too was confounded by 6. Maybe he's counting every migration -- the first two were presumably double-migrated (SO->SF->SU for one, SO->SU->SF the other) and the AskAboutGadgets bit on the 3rd question?
–
John RudyJun 8 '10 at 21:23

There are only four sites your question could be migrated to (SO, SU, SF, and Meta), so I have no idea what this "six times" stuff is about

Your main complaint seems to be that your questions keep getting migrated -- maybe you should just post them in the right place to begin with. Each site has an FAQ that explains what belongs there and what doesn't. If your question is getting closed as off-topic when it belongs on one of those sites, that was the closers' mistake; they should be migrating instead, which will automatically post your question on the appropriate site and give you a link there. It's about as easy for you as possible; you literally have to do nothing, it just appears on the other site. Ideally you should just post on the right site to begin with, though, and then people don't need to take the time to move your question and you don't need to follow a new link

-1: "maybe you should just post them in the right place to begin with" doesn't help anyone. Even setting tone aside, the OP specifically said that he considered which site to post to before posting.
–
Pops♦Jun 8 '10 at 18:57

@Pop But clearly he got it wrong -- the point was the next sentence that explains how to know which site to post on: "Each site has an FAQ that explains what belongs there and what doesn't"
–
Michael MrozekJun 8 '10 at 19:41

the impression I got was that the OP tried using the resources provided (i.e. the FAQ) but for whatever reason still didn't get to the right site.
–
Pops♦Jun 8 '10 at 19:52

@Pop Maybe I misunderstood then; I think given the FAQs it's pretty easy to decide which site holds what, but trying to judge just from existing content (like I guessed he was doing) would be much harder
–
Michael MrozekJun 8 '10 at 19:55